On Tuesday, I picked up Tom R. at 8:15am and we drove down to NJC. Actually, he drove, I slept most the way. We got there and pretty much had the place to ourselves.
We climbed at the White Face Wall by the bathroom. We climbed White Head (5.9 **) and White Out (5.10b**). We both agreed the later was way more fun. We also think it deserves more stars. It is very fun and has great flow.
Next up, we drove up to the Crossfire Crag. We climbed Jug Haul (5.9**) then Change of Scene (5.10a**). Both were really fun. Jug Haul is super for the last 1/3 of the climb, if it were all like that it would be a five star route! COS has a strange clip for me down low, but Tom just cruised it. It has a wild move past a bulge, and onto an arete. The exposure is fun.
After that, we went back to the car for lunch. It was a wicked day, perfecto weather. I wanted to try for a redpoint on Touch Choices, so we went over to Raven Rocks. Clipping the 4th bolt is exhillerating, and I was just happy I made it before peeling off. So, I didn’t get it, but I made it to one more bolt before having to hang-great progress. After two quick hangs, at that spot, it was all over…Tom did it on TR and cleaned the anchors.
At this point, I started feeling tired. The weeklong fight against a Cold was finally catching up with me. For fun, though, I suggested Tom give The Little Red Book (5.10a***) a shot. He had a good time up in the book, the footjam is utterly important up there! I took a turn putting it up, and in my hurry forgot to bring something to clean the anchors with. I ended up using a locking beaner from my ATC and some creative rope tricks.
By now, it was around 4:30pm, and we were both worn out, so we called it a day. Tom was planning on climbing the following day, so he didn’t want to go until he was dog tired. And, I was quite happy after having done 4 new routes and making serious progress on Touch Choices. All in all a very fun afternoon, thanks Tom for sharing your apple & rope with me!
Tom picked out some good Trance music and we made it to his place in 1.5 hours. That’s right, I drove home and I drive fast!!!